Excerpt from Water Quality Monitoring Program 1998-2000: New River Gorge National River, Bluestone National Scenic River, Gauley River National Recreation Area
New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National Recreation Area contain some of the most popular and demanding whitewater recreation in the eastern United States. New River Gorge National River supports the most significant and highest quality warm water fishery in West Virginia. Bluestone National Scenic River remains one of the last vestiges of relatively undisturbed reaches of riverine habitat in the central Appalachians, and provides outstanding opportunities for solitude. Taken together, these three parks represent some of the most significant water resources in the National Park System.
Situated in the Kanawha - New River basin of the Ohio River drainage, areas in and around the three parks have experienced extensive resource extraction activities. Mining of low-sulfur coal and timbering removed vegetation and led to increased erosion and sedimentation. Development of automobile and rail transportation networks, and communities to handle the influx of people, inflicted further impacts upon the land, and upon the streams draining the land.
As coal and timber were depleted, many people lost their jobs and moved away. Decreased resource extraction allowed re-establishment of natural communities and ecosystems. Lush mixed mesophytic forests now cover most of the three parks. Commercial whitewater rafting, rock climbing, angling, and other outdoor activities now draw hundreds of thousands of visitors to the New River area.
Appalachia has a long history of impoverishment. Today this is reflected in infrastructure that is often less than adequate. Sewage treatment is woefully inadequate in many areas, including the New River watershed in the vicinity of the three parks. In areas with inadequate sewage treatment, untreated or partially treated household sewage commonly ends up in local streams and rivers.
The National Park Service regularly monitors fecal coliform bacteria, an indicator of human domestic waste pollution, in and around the three parks to assess the potential health risk to people engaged in water-based recreational activities. This report presents water quality data collected from 1998 through 2000. Some new sampling sites that were added to the monitoring program during this period, and limited older data from these sites are also presented. Besides the fecal coliform bacteria, this report also contains information on basic field parameters (turbidity, (temperature, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and ph).
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